PHILADELPHIA — Ubaldo Jimenez stood by his locker Wednesday afternoon, his eyes telling a story of disaster more eloquently than the scoreboard.

Down the hallway, Cliff Lee talked triumph, about soaking in his first October moment. The playoffs demand victors and victims and the Rockies were nothing more than well-dressed mannequins in the Phillies’ first-step of their title defense.

Colorado was punchless, hitless for long stretches, and times, because of the swirling wind, helpless in a 5-1 loss in the National League division series opener.

“This is hard to take. I thought I would do better,” said Jimenez after getting tagged for five runs in five innings. “I just lost it.”

Disappointment was natural. Context was critical in a clubhouse so silent afterward pages of magazines could be heard flipping. The Rockies’ fifth consecutive postseason defeat will matter little if they make an adjustment today against left-hander Cole Hamels.

The problem is, history is taunting them. Praise of the Rockies leading into this series has amounted to a left-handed compliment. The Rockies’ story from the grave back to the sport’s biggest stage is inspiring. But their work against left-hander starters is not. With Wednesday’s loss, they are 8-17 against them on the road.

Against Lee, they offered little resistance, the reigning American League Cy Young award winner authoring a complete-game, six-hitter in his postseason debut.

“I don’t care who was out there facing him today, they would not have beaten him,” shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. “He was that good.”

Effort wasn’t the question with the Rockies, but the execution was flawed. Hitting instructor Don Baylor detailed a plan of attack against Lee. It was simple: lay off the high fastball, work the count, hit the gaps and turn it into a battle of bullpens. Lee teased them with vulnerability. But, the Rockies’ first scoring chance was their best, and their last.

In the first inning, they placed runners on the corners with two outs when Garrett Atkins stepped into the box. He started ahead of Ian Stewart because of his work against left-handers. On a 2-0 count, he misfired on a meaty changeup, lofting a harmless popup to center field.

“He left it up a little bit, one of his few mistakes,” Atkins said. “If we could have taken the lead early, quieted the crowd, it would have been huge.”

Lee settled down, becoming more efficient than a Toyota Prius. He had 69 pitches through six innings, retiring 16 consecutive hitters at one point. His secret was first-strike efficiency. It prevented the Rockies from working the count, and allowed him to disguise his fastball as three pitches: a four-seamer, a sinker and a cutter, the latter of which surprised hitters who have faced him before.

“He was dirty,” the Rockies’ Todd Helton said. “There’s a reason he won the Cy Young.”

By the ninth inning, Lee stepped off the mound to gather his thoughts. This was why the Phillies acquired him from Cleveland in July when they couldn’t pry Roy Halladay away from the Blue Jays.

“I wanted to take it all in, to really enjoy it,” said Lee, whose only blemish came on Tulowitzki’s ninth-inning RBI double.

Jimenez looked the part of the ace for four innings, then came unglued. As he tried to throw harder, he began flying open with his lead shoulder. Suddenly he found himself behind in the count and watching Raul Ibanez, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth plate runs with extra-base hits.

“The wind was crazy out there. The worst I have played in,” outfielder Carlos Gonzalez said. “But that’s no excuse. We are professionals. And they hit better than we did.”

It won’t get any easier against Hamels, last fall’s World Series MVP. But with a win, Wednesday’s memory will dull, turning into a footnote in another potentially magical Rocktober.

“You want two victories, but all you need is a split,” catcher Yorvit Torrealba said. “Nobody in here is going to panic.”

Troy joined The Denver Post in 2002 as the Rockies' beat writer and became a Broncos beat writer in 2014 before assuming the lead role before the 2015 season. He is a past president of the local chapter of Baseball Writers Association of America and has won more than 20 local and national writing awards since graduating from the University of Colorado journalism school with honors in 1993.

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